Fairhope planning board OKs new district for Colony at the Grand

(John David Mercer/Press-Register)The Colony at the Grand's first 56-unit tower was completed in 2008. A new zoning district approved by the Fairhope Planning Commission would allow a second similar tower to be constructed but the rest of the project would be downsized.

FAIRHOPE, Ala. -- The city's Planning Commission voted this week to endorse creating a "tourism resort district" that would change the way The Colony at the Grand's 184 acres are developed in coming years.

"We will have the right to build a second 100-foot tower if the market requests that, but we would be giving up the right to build high on the rest of the property," said Jason Tickle of The Daniel Corp., one of the project's developers.

The Colony at the Grand's first eight-story condo complex was completed in 2008 at Section Street and Old Battles Road in Point Clear.

That year, the Daniel Corp., the county and the city were sued by a group calling itself the Fairhope-Point Clear Association for Responsible Development. The suit claims that the city of Fairhope and county planners approved and issued permits for plans that violated existing height restrictions and zoning regulations, which would have limited each building to 45 units within five stories, regardless of height. That lawsuit is still pending, court records show.

The Baldwin County Planning Commission in 2001 approved measures that allow the Colony project to exceed the five-story limit, according to the lawsuit.

During its July 12 meeting, the City Council is expected to consider both annexing The Colony at the Grand's 184 acres and approving the new "tourism resort district" for the property endorsed Monday by the planning board.

The Colony project, which has corporate links to the RSA-owned Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa, would retain its cap of 637 residential units, with one tower no higher than 100 feet. But the developers would have more flexibility in the kinds of units that can be constructed, according to Tickle.

"Right now, we are challenged because we have a single product type: condominiums," Tickle said. The new district allows the development to include "single family housing, town homes, mixed-use," he said.

"That way you're able to create a built environment that is much more in keeping with the scale of the Fairhope area," Tickle said.

City Planner Jonathan Smith said his staff had been working with The Colony project's developers for months to create the new district.